How To Tell If Phone As A2dp

Bluetooth headphones are all the rage now, later spending the ameliorate part of a decade equally a niche restricted to tech enthusiasts. Now yous can observe an incredible multifariousness of Bluetooth headphones on electronic store shelves, and fifty-fifty more than online. But every bit with almost all product categories, not every set of wireless headphones is created equal.

We're going to talk nearly three Bluetooth technologies that relate to exactly how skilful your Bluetooth headset sounds, and what you're looking for in a new pair. A2DP is the basic Bluetooth stereo streaming protocol, aptX is an advanced codec specifically designed for Bluetooth, and Apple's W1 chip system is proprietary and only works with Apple tree hardware.

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A2DP: The Default

A2DP stands for Advanced Sound Distribution Profile, which means—well it doesn't mean a whole lot in the context of something that's already streaming audio. Only as one of the oldest parts of the combined Bluetooth specification, A2DP is more or less the default for streaming audio over Bluetooth. Whatsoever Bluetooth audio product you purchase—headphones, speakers, mobile phones, laptops—will support A2DP at the very to the lowest degree, whether or not it can as well piece of work with aptX.

My trusty, rusty Motorola s305 Bluetooth headphones from 2009 only support A2DP.

The A2DP standard operates in stereo and supports most of the standard audio pinch codecs. The recommended sub-ring coding (SBC) codec supports up to 345 kilobits per second at 48 kilohertz. That's approximately i third the quality of standard CD audio—roughly the equivalent of a loftier-quality MP3 recording. Due to high "lossy" pinch in the SBC codec, the reality of the audio quality is considerably lower, somewhere in the range of 256kbit/s.

The system also supports other popular methods of encoding and compressing audio, like MP3 itself. If the audio source is already compressed in a format like MP3, AAC, or ATRAC, and then it doesn't need to be re-encoded in SBC in order to be broadcast from the source device. With A2DP's maximum audio bandwidth of 728kbit/s, it'south at least possible to first approaching what we'd call "high-quality audio" with the basic standard alone. (CD quality audio, uncompressed, is approximately 1400kbit/s.)

Unfortunately, very few hardware makers seem to be really using this capability, and nearly A2DP-simply devices are re-encoding audio to SBC and de-encoding on the receiver end. This makes the whole process more than complicated, resulting in poorer audio quality.

aptX: The Upgrade

Mobile chip maker Qualcomm bought CSR and its aptX tech in 2015. It licenses the codec to a diversity of phone and audio companies.

AptX is also a pinch standard, like SBC or MP3. But it'south an altogether better one, and i that'due south designed to work within the limited bandwidth and low power available to Bluetooth devices. CSR, the developer that created aptX, says that it uses a proprietary compression method that preserves more of the audio'due south full range of frequency while simultaneously "squeezing" it down to fit in the limited data pipe that A2DP offers.

In layman's terms: remember of the A2DP profile equally a McDonald'due south double quarter-pounder hamburger, and aptX equally the "special sauce" that makes that burger a Big Mac.

[Editor'due south Note: Michael, your metaphors need work.]

The visitor claims that this avant-garde compression results in "CD-like" audio quality, and while that might be a flake embellished, a total aptX organisation does sound dramatically better than most A2DP-only systems. The codec is also faster to encode and decode, resulting in less of a gap between the screen and the speakers when watching a video with Bluetooth audio enabled. AptX HD is an even college-quality standard, with 24-fleck/48kHz audio, and streaming at a slightly college bitrate.

Unfortunately, aptX requires the codec to be supported by both the broadcasting device and the receiver. If your headphones or speakers don't support aptX, they'll default back to A2DP alone, resulting in the lower level of Bluetooth sound quality with which you already may be frustrated.

Apple tree'south AirPods and W1 Fleck: The Other One

What about the iPhone? Does it support aptX, and do those fancy wireless AirPod headphones use it? Nope. While the AirPods do employ Bluetooth (not AirPlay, which is more than of a Chromecast-type Wi-Fi audio protocol), they employ a proprietary W1 Bluetooth chip that'south fully supported by only Apple tree devices running iOS 10.2 or Sierra x.12 (or subsequently). This custom-made connection allows for more loftier-fidelity listening than standard A2DP (and a nearly-instant automatic connection), just it isn't compatible with aptX, and connecting your iPhone to an aptX-capable headset or speaker will yet utilise the lower-allegiance A2DP.

There are other headphones that are compatible with the proprietary W1-enhanced Bluetooth standard: Beats. (Apple bought the Beats brand dorsum in 2014.) And both the AirPods and W1-enabled Bluetooth Beats headphones tin can be connected to regular, non-iPhone audio sources. Just new Beats products don't use aptX either, and since Apple doesn't seem interested in licensing its W1 engineering like Qualcomm does with aptX, the AirPods or Beats headphones are basically your just choice for high-quality wireless audio on iOS.

Note: You tin can apply AirPods or Beats with non-Apple devices, or with Apple devices running older versions of iOS or Sierra. Those devices just won't be able to take full advantage of the W1 chip. They will connect merely fine over regular Bluetooth, and will default to using A2DP.

RELATED: Which AirPods Should You Buy?

How Practice You lot Know You're Getting aptX?

First, check your electric current device, which is probably your phone. Virtually newer Android phones sold over the last few years include this capability, especially those with Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Loftier-end phones from Samsung, LG, HTC, Sony, Huawei, and OnePlus all back up aptX Bluetooth streaming. Apple'south iPhone is a the notable exception.

Most Android phones fabricated since 2014 support aptX Bluetooth.

Next, make sure your receiving hardware—your speaker, car stereo, or headphones—also supports aptX. This is more rare, and you lot'll want to specifically cheque the specification sail to meet if aptX is listed. This used to be restricted to only the almost expensive models, only lately they've come down in toll, and you can generally find aptX back up on a wide range of designs. Everything from a $400 pair of Sennheiser noise-cancelling, around-the-ear cans to a $26 set of budget Aukey earbuds can handle the aptX codec. Look specifically for aptX HD support for even better audio.

Left: Sennheiser HD1 Wireless, $340. Correct: Aukey Breadth, $26. Both back up aptX Bluetooth. Neat!

Unfortunately, it can be hard to decide whether the actual audio you're playing on your device also supports aptX streaming. Telephone manufacturers in particular seem bad at informing the user of the codec or bitrate that'south actually being used when delivering audio. Once yous've ensured that both your histrion device and your sound device are compatible, yous'll usually have to (ahem) play it by ear.

Image source: Sony, Amazon, Samsung, Apple